BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

01/05/2008

US tells Belarus to close embassy in Washington, closes embassy in Minsk

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Itar-Tass) - U.S. Department of State has told the Belarussian authorities to close the Belarussian embassy in Washington and the consulate in New York and it itself shuts down the American embassy in Minsk in what seen as a news escalation of tensions between the two countries, the Associated Press said.

The DoS gas given Belarus until May 16 to withdraw six diplomats still working at the two missions, while the U.S. embassy in Minsk ceases all operations as of Friday, May 2, DoS sources told the AP on conditions of anonymity.

The move is just a step short of severing diplomatic relations with Belarus altogether.

There has been no formal announcement of the decision so far, but the high-rank DoS sources said Belarus was notified of Washington's move at simultaneous meetings between U.S. and Belarussian diplomats in Washington and Minsk.

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. charge d' affaires Jonathan Moore to hand him a list of ten American diplomats whom the Belarussian authorities declared personae non gratae. The expellees were told to leave the country within 72 hours.

The DoS described the move as 'out of proportion and unjustified' and warned of upcoming reciprocal measures.

Sean McCormack, the DoS chief press officer said the U.S. would like to see a well-working relationship with Belarus but it would not sacrifice the principles of promulgation of the freedom of speech, as well as political and other freedom to Belarus under any circumstances.

The long-lasting standoff between the U.S. Administration and the Belarussian government aggravated after the U.S. decision to impose economic sanctions on the Belarussian petrochemical company Belneftekhim.

March 7, Belarus called off its ambassador Mikhail Khvostov for consultations and made a recommendation to the U.S. ambassador, Karen Stewart to act likewise, which she did March 12.

As the next step, Minsk demanded that Washington halve the staff of its embassy to 17 persons.

Minsk took a decision at the end of last month to cut down the number of its diplomats in Washington to just seven and recommended that the U.S. do the same.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12640004&PageNum=0

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